Removable insole for shoes



J. J. REINA REMOVABLE INSOLE FOR snbns Filed Jan. 13, 1925 IN VENTOR A TTORNE Y5 Patented Dee. 9,1924. V

UNITED STA JoSEPH J. REINA'. or NEW YORK. N. Y.. ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO RAYMOND F. WELCH. OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

REMOVABLE INSbLE FOR SHOES.

Application filed January 18, 1928. Serial No. 612,480.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it. known that I. JOSEPH J. Rama, :1 citizen of the United States of America, residing at New York, N. Y., have invented a new and useful Removable Insole for Shoes. of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and improved removable insole for a shoe. The object. of the invention is to provide, as an article of manufacture, an insole for a shoe, which insole is so constructed that it may be easily inserted and removed, and which when in place will operate to cushion all parts of the sole of the foot to relieve such pressures as produce painful callouses. To one having such callouses the use of my new insole affords instant relief and also results in the gradual disappearance of said callouses.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the u per side of an insole constructed to embo v my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the lower=side.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section.

1 represents a smooth coating for the upper surface of the insole. 2 represents the main body of said insole, which is made from sponge rubber of substantially greater thickness than the surface coating 1. This sponge rubber main body furnishes, in addition to a multitude of soft cushioning air cells, a relatively rough lower surface which, when the insole is placed in a shoe, clings to the leather insole so that it will not work out of place while in use. The smooth surface layer 1 may be made integral with the sponge rubber body if desired. I am aware that sponge rubber has heretofore been employed in the construction of insoles and shoe soles, but in all such instances so far as I am informed both surfaces of the sponge rubber have been covered with smooth imperforate layers of rubber or other suitable coating 'material which not only adds to the weight and cost but which also eliminates the relatively rough non-slipping surface of the sponge rubber from coming in contact with the leather shoe insole for the purpose above described. In prior cases, the covering of both surfaces of the sponge rubber with relatively smooth imperforate sheets or coatings has prevented the user from thoroughly cleaning such devices. It is obvious that in the use of insoles. formed in part of sponge rubber, perspiration will gradually work into the pores or cells of the same, and it is equally obvious that much difficulty will be experienced in thoroughly was ing or cleansing the same when only the edges are exposed as in the prior art devices. On the contrarv. in the form shown and described herein all parts of the sponge rubber body are accessible for thorough washing and cleansing. I have also found that by providing a surface coating on one side only of the removable insole the extreme ficxibilitv and elasticity of the sponge rubber body is in no substantial degree impaired or lessened; whereas with spaced surface coatings secured on the opposite surfaces of the insole the trusslike formation thus produced renders the insole much less flexible and hence it will not as readily conform to all of the curves and irregularities of the shoe insole and. of the sole the foot as will my improved device. Again, by covering only one surface of the sponge rubber body, the wei ht of the insole is substantially lessens Again, by coatin on one side only of said sponge rubber body the cost is substantially lessened. Again, an insole constructed in accordance with my invention may be very easily trimmed around its edge to shape it accurately to the insole of the particular shoe with which it is to be used. It is manifest that all of these features are of great advantage to the user.

I preferably form the surface coating 1 by applying to one surface of the main body 2, a thin layer of rubber cement or the like, over the surface of which I ap lv a suitable uantity of a finely divided, friction reduclng powder such as chalk or soapstone; all of which, when dried, forms a substantially integral part of the main body 2. While, of course, other coatings may be substituted, I have found that a coating constructed substantiallv as above has many advantages and is much to be preferred, for example it eliminates the necesity of applying a separate sheet of rubber or the like to one face of the sponge rubber to secure a smooth contact for the sole of the foot. While this addition produces a smooth effect, the stick clinging feeling of rubber is eliminated and the effect of leather -is more closely approximated. This filler also serves to penetrate the pores of the sponge rubber on one side of the insole,

and revents wear and disintegration there-' of,t oroby adding tothe durability of the article. o 1

What I claim is:

A removable insole for shoes. comprising i smain'bodj of pores in oneisurfaoe of sai dbodv said filler material itself forming a smooth treald sur-;

fsoe.

JOSEPH J. REINA. 

